Will Senate Republicans keep standing in the way?
Nearly 1.7 million people are without emergency unemployment aid since that program's expiration in late December. Congressional Republicans continue to stand in the way of extending the unemployment insurance for those who've been jobless for six months or more. But Senate Democrats
aren't giving up, trying yet again to pass an aid bill:
Reid is trying a new tactic Thursday, putting a three-month extension of EUC up for a vote that not only pays for the $6.4 billion price tag but also reduces the deficit by $1.2 billion. This is achieved through a method called “pension smoothing” that allows companies to use historic interest rate averages to calculate pension contributions, and by ending unemployment insurance payments to any person whose adjusted gross income in the preceding year was $1 million or more.
A big question is if Republicans will continue insisting that their gripes about Senate procedure are reason to block unemployment insurance—that's not an argument that a majority of voters are buying, but the last time around they flogged it for all it was worth anyway. The Senate is expected to vote on ending debate late Thursday morning; will enough Republicans vote for their constituents rather than as an expression of their resentment of Harry Reid for it to get to 60?
Sign and send the petition to Senate Republicans: Restore emergency unemployment benefits.